Paw Prints and Feathers
by YaoiSilverSilver-Yaoi
Summary: The sequel to Puppies and Owls! Something is wrong in Meifu... and both Muraki and the potion plays a part in it.
1. A fox in a chicken suit?

Wai! I have begun the sequel to Puppies and Owls! I hope it will be as good as first one but as they say about sequels: they often seem to be modified copies of the first fic.

I have decided to involve new characters, ones that weren't in the old fic. Loose ends will also be tied together in this fic.

HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY!

Xxxx

Paw prints and Feathers!

Chapter one: A fox in a chicken suit?

Xxxx

"Hi, Hisoka! Have you seen Poko?"

Hisoka let the newspaper drop. Looking at Tsuzuki he raised one eye brow. "Poko?"

Tsuzuki nodded and sat down with a sigh on his chair. "Yeah. Poko, my budgie" he said. "He flew out from my room this morning and I have been searching all over the place for him"

Tatsumi sipped his coffee and peeked over his paper. "Look down at the table. A little to the right of your coffee cup" he said and disappeared behind his paper again.

Tsuzuki blinked before looking down where Tatsumi had told him to look. His frowns turned into confusion. Was his eyes lying to him?

Struggling for all it was worth, the small 'lost' budgie tried to drag a vile over to Tsuzuki's cup. Its white wings flapped madly as it managed to drag the vile over to the cup and tilted it up before trying to open the plug. The vile had a label: DANGER! DO NOT DRINK! On it.

The three persons around the table knew that hated potion well. It was the same blue liquid that had pushed them several steps down the food chain.

Tsuzuki smiled and picked up the budgie from the table, making the animal drop the plug in the process. "There you are, you little rascal! I have been so worried" he said and hugged the small animal.

Poko chirped and settled on Tsuzuki's shoulder to polish the amethyst eyed shingami's chin. It seemed to have forgotten all about the vile that now rested on the table.

"Where is that little thief! I'm going to pluck him! that is the sixth time he has snatched something from my lab! Where is he!" Watari growled as he stormed into the kitchen.

"Good morning to you to, Watari. Tea or coffee?" Tatsumi asked as he got up from his seat. He and the rest of the staff had gotten used to Watari's hot temper that he had gained lately.

Who could blame him? Ever since the 'animal potion' accident things hadn't gone smoothly for Watari. Since Tsuzuki had gotten that bird from hell from Muraki Watari's life hadn't been the same. The small white bird had been escaping to the blonde's lab every day for the past month and basically destroyed most of the scientist's potions and equipments by pushing them from the shelves. Poko had even once gone straight for Watari's breast pocket and snatched the plans for his next invention.

"Tea. I'm in no mood for coffee" the scientist sighed and sat down. He threw the white budgie a glare and grabbed a sandwich that Hisoka had made for him before he had stormed in. "Tsuzuki, haven't I asked you a million times to buy a cage? I'm going bankrupt if he's to continue his demolition streak" he said and took the warm cup Tatsumi handed him. He reached over the table and retrieved his vile. "I have no idea how he managed to get this from my lab. I wonder what he was going to do with it. It is not the first time he has snatched it."

Tsuzuki looked at Watari with huge puppy eyes. "But, Watari… I can't put him into a cage. It is just so unfair" he said and petted the small bird. "And as for the vile, well, budgies are curious animals. He probably thought it was a toy or something" he said and looked at the white feather ball on his shoulder. "Isn't that right, Poko? You were just bored, weren't you?"

Hisoka huffed and closed his paper. He decided that the morning peace was ruined anyway. "Unfair to who? The bird? It is only an animal, Tsuzuki" he said and finished his drink. "Besides I don't think the bird could be that bored. He follows you around where ever you go even into the shower, and that is nasty by the way"

The amethyst eyed man shook his head. "Poko is not just an animal. Do I have to remind you of our little adventure? Were we just animals?" he asked.

The blond youth sighed. "That was different. We still thought as humans"

"I think that Tsuzuki is referring to the animals we met during that trip. Remember the rat that Watari tried to eat? He was quite intelligent and he was an animal" Tatsumi said and grabbed the unsuspecting budgie from Tsuzuki's shoulder. The small bird didn't like that anyone touched him unless it was Tsuzuki who touched him.

Poko bit and squirmed in Tatsumi's hand. Chirping loudly he protested as Tatsumi sat down and held him upside down under the kitchen lamp.

Tatsumi studied the budgie closely. The small bird sent out bad vibes and it bothered him. Not only was the bird a gift from Muraki, but it was causing lots and lots of trouble. The repair bills were getting longer and longer and as long as the bird was free the bill would never stop growing in length.

Tsuzuki was startled when Tatsumi grabbed the bird but didn't move to take Poko back. He knew that Tatsumi wouldn't hurt the small being. 'He probably remembers when he was a bird himself. I wonder if he misses being a bird? I don't miss being a dog but who knows about the others? Why am I asking myself so many questions? I better stop now before I get a nose bleed or something. Can you get a nose bleed from thinking to hard? Ack! To many questions!' he thought and rubbed his temples.

Watari looked at Tsuzuki as he finished his drink. "Tsuzuki is in his own little world again. I guess we'll be able to contact him in about two hours"

Tatsumi frowned, both at Watari's comment and something else. "Tsuzuki, have you ever noticed something odd about this bird?" he asked and pushed his glasses up. His sea blue eyes never left the little being in his hand.

"No, why?" Tsuzuki asked as he snapped out form his 'world of thoughts'. "He seems like a perfectly normal budgie. I mean, I have used fudas and other spells to see if there was something wrong with him but I haven't found anything" he said and scratched his chin.

Hisoka leaned over and studied the budgie more closely. He couldn't see anything different about the bird. Looking up he said "Excuse me" and took Tatsumi's glasses and put them on. He returned his gaze at the budgie that had stopped struggling. Taking off the glasses he looked up back at Tatsumi. "You are right. How could we have missed that? I mean, it really sticks out" he said and handed the secretary his glasses back.

Tsuzuki frowned. "What is so odd about my budgie? What can you see that I can't?"

"Yeah. What did you see, tell us tell us!" Watari said. He really hoped that the two had seen something that would force them to lock the feathered disaster behind bars. If so he would buy a huge cake for the whole office.

Hisoka looked at the two. "This bird has the same eyes as Muraki. The same duo coloured eyes" he said shortly.

The silence in the room could scare a shadow.

The edges of Tsuzuki's lips twitched. They twitched some more before a loud laugh bubbled up from his throat. "Ha ha ha ha! Are you kidding me! Poko isn't Muraki! Not even I think Muraki would sink that low as to disguise himself as a bird! Get real Tatsumi!" he said and stood up, still laughing hard. "I'll get some cake while you try to get that ridiculous idea out of you head. I mean, I have slept in the same room as him for over a month now. If he was Muraki I would feel it in my guts" he said and left the room.

Watari couldn't help but giggle himself. He could feel Tatsumi's glare and lifted one hand. "Sorry, sorry but I need to see the proof myself before I can believe you" he said and adjusted his glasses and leaned over the table. His smile dropped. Surly enough, the budgie had a silver and blue eye. "Um… I guess you can be right. I mean, just because he acts strange and has eyes like Muraki doesn't mean that he is Muraki" he said and sat back, crossing his arms across his chest. "It might be that Muraki sent the budgie to Tsuzuki to do something to him" he mused.

Hisoka nodded. "Can be. But what can a budgie do?" he asked the elders.

Tatsumi frowned before looking up. "The bird has tried to steal your potion several times. It might be that he is sent to poison us all" he said as he remembered 'Poko's' little stunt earlier that morning.

The small blond looked at the secretary. The mention that he was under threat to become a bunny again made him feel uneasy. "Yes but remember that he has tried to steal plans for some inventions as well. It might just be a coincident that he manages to snatch the same potion all the time" he said.

Watari paled. I mean, really turned white as a sheet. He looked at the door where Tsuzuki had left and gulped. "Then I guess it might be a little late to tell you all that Poko has been in the kitchen yesterday…" he said and returned his gaze to the two before him.

Hisoka frowned. What was Watari going on about? "What so bad about that? If he poisoned the food it is alright, I mean, we can't get sick"

The older blond nodded once. "We aren't affected by ordinary poison… but the potion Poko has stolen so many times can"

Tatsumi and Hisoka stiffened as they heard this. Did that mean that…?

"AOUUUUUUUUUU!"

The three jumped two feet into the air as the fearful shriek rang out through the building.

Xxxx

Sorry about the lousy short beginning but I have writer's block. Besides I promise that this story will become better! R&R


	2. Ok, that does it!

Thanks for the lovely reviews! I truly, deeply love you all!

Xxxx

Arisa Shoma: I'm sorry if I confused you. Gomen nasai. I'll try to make it up to you.

Jollyolly: Well… I can always get them close… but I'm not sure it is the way you like… have you read Puppies and Owls you should see what I mean.

Chii the Chobit: Thank you for your kind words. I had to rush things a little bit to get this fic posted… god I miss Puppies and Owls….

DarkSapphireDragon: You can't believe how happy I became when you reviewed! I was starting to wonder if any of my old readers had read this new fic and then you did… I'm so happy!

Shinigami-Tsuzuki: Thank you! Thanks for reading this fic! I just love old reviewers! YOUNG old reviewers I mean! Or do I….?

Chocola: Thanks for the review! I think it got me out from my writer's block! Arigato!

Amethyst-eyed koinu: Thanks for the kind words! I personally don't hate or dislike Muraki but I truly wish he didn't r''''d Hisoka… I so going to make him pay for that!

Xxxx

Paw Prints and Feathers

Chapter two: Ok, that does it!

Xxxx

"What on earth was that?" asked Hisoka as he got up from his seat. The pained cry had startled him and almost made him topple of his chair.

Watari scratched his head. "Somehow I know that cry from before…" he said and looked forwards the door.

Tsuzuki growled as he entered the room. "Where is he! I'm going to pluck him!" he snapped and looked around.

Tatsumi felt his glasses slid down his nose as he looked up… no… down at the amethyst eyed shinigami. "I guess Muraki succeeded…"

Hisoka walked up to his partner and picked him up. He sighed as he ran his hand through the cream coloured fur. "Shut up, baka. We can't understand you" he muttered.

Tsuzuki didn't seem to notice Hisoka or hear the boy at all. His amethyst eyes were locked on the small white being in Tatsumi's hand. "YOU…"

'Poko' turned his head and looked at the pup. "Why hello, Tsuzuki-san" he said and wiggled some more in Tatsumi's grip. "I see you fell for my sweet trap"

Tsuzuki growled and gout out from his partner's grip and landed on the table. "I should bite you so hard for doing this to me! I can't believe you sank this low, Muraki! I mean, I cared for you, I looked after you…"

"You showered in the same room as I and let me be in your bed at night" Muraki finished of for him.

The pup blushed. That thought hadn't hit him until now. He had been… in front of Muraki…. Dear god…. "Ok, that does it! You are going down!" Tsuzuki snapped after shaking his head to clear it. Growling he pounced at the small budgie.

Hisoka sighed and left for the kitchen. He had to dispose of the cake before anyone else ate of it. "I'll be right back after they have stopped fighting"

Tatsumi saw the small pup come at him. He let go of the budgie and quickly withdrew his hand. If the two of them wanted to fight he didn't want to get involved. Besides, what harm could possible the two of them do?

Muraki easily flew away from the advancing pup. Flapping his white wings he landed on the back of the chair Tsuzuki had been in earlier. "Where is your manners, Tsuzuki-san? Attacking a small bird that is so unlike you" he said and ruffled his feathers.

Tsuzuki shook his head from the blow he had taken when he had slammed into the table. Glaring at the budgie he growled. "Get over here and say that you molesting… feather ball!" he snapped and jumped again. To late he realised that he was heading for a chair and that it would easily topple over by his weight. "YAAAA!"

Watari, who had snapped out from his shock, quickly grabbed the pup in mid air. Holding the panting being close he sighed in relief. "Be more careful, Tsuzuki. There is no need to be upset. I have the antidote in my lab so after we catch him we'll turn you back" he said. He received huge questioning puppy eyes in return and smiled. "Promise!"

Tatsumi sighed. "How are we going to catch him? He is too small to chase him around to grab him and I can't use my shadows ether" he said and looked at the Muraki budgie.

Muraki chirped and took off. His small form quickly vanished into the hallway and soon all you could hear was him chirping.

Tsuzuki barked once and wiggled out from Watari's grip and dashed after him. "Get back here you coward! I'm not done with you!"

Tatsumi and Watari looked at each other.

"Should we follow them?"

"Why not? Muraki might have poisoned something else or done something to lure Tsuzuki into a trap. We better follow"

xxxx

Hisoka looked around the clean kitchen. He couldn't spot the cake Tsuzuki had eaten.

"Did the baka put it back after finishing his snack? He couldn't have… the potion affects you as soon as you get in your system. At least it did that to me" he mumbled and opened the fridge. He couldn't see any cake there. 'Did he eat the WHOLE thing? It makes me ill just thinking about it' he shivered as he reached in to grab a coke.

"I guess I have to ask Tsuzuki when he gets back to normal"

xxxx

Tsuzuki skidded along the hallway as he chased the small budgie. 'Where is he going? There is nothing at the end of this hall except the kitchen' the pup though.

'Be a good boy and follow me, Tsuzuki-san. I have a little surprise for you' Muraki thought and vanished into the kitchen. He landed on the refrigerator with ease and turned round to watch the pup enter.

Tsuzuki slid along the floor as he realised Muraki had stopped. He closed his eyes to avoid seeing the thing he was going to smack into. He stopped one inch from the refrigerator. Blinking his eyes open when the pain didn't come and sighed when he realised he hadn't crashed into the white object. "Phu. I didn't hurt my self" he said to himself and sat on the floor.

SMACK

"ITAI!" Tsuzuki exclaimed as a bottle smacked him in the head. He scrambled way from the refrigerator and hid under the table. He poked his head out and looked around with a whine.

"Oh, deja vú. Brings back such lovely memories don't it, Tsuzuki-san?" Muraki asked and tilted his head.

Tsuzuki growled. "You were the one that dropped that bottle on me weren't you?" he snapped.

"No, it was me"

The amethyst eyed pup looked up and noticed for the first time that the refrigerator door was open. Looking up he saw the one that was responsible for the 'bottle dropping'. "What happened to you?" he asked and came out from under the table.

Hisoka huffed as he pushed down a box with tomatoes in it to get more room on the shelve. "Muraki happened to me that's what!" he said and stomped his hind leg once. "What didn't you poison in the kitchen, Muraki? The butter? The coke I know you poisoned " he asked and stood on his hind legs to get a view on the budgie sitting over him.

Muraki flapped down and landed on the shelve the bunny was occupying. "It was hard to place the potion in everything that was in the refrigerator. I had to make several rounds before I knew I had 'poisoned' all the things I knew Tsuzuki-san would consume. And no, the butter I haven't touched. The only things that I have 'messed around' with is the cokes, cakes and cookies" he admitted. "I have been observing Tsuzuki-san for over a month now so I had a pretty good idea what to poison"

Hisoka sighed. "And to believe I was sucked into this by mistake…" he said and looked down to Tsuzuki. "I was turned back into a freaking bunny because you like coke!" he accused.

Tsuzuki blinked. "Anno…. I don't drink coke, Hisoka. You do. I drink tea or lemonade, not coke" he said and tilted his head. His blond partner should know that now. It made the pup a little sad that his partner didn't know such things about him. He knew almost everything about the blond…

Hisoka frowned. "Then why was the coke…" he began. He looked at the budgie and growled. "You didn't…"

Muraki nodded once. "I did. I knew you would drink the coke so I poisoned it to. And before you ask, boy, yes I did poison it on purpose. And soon you will find out why" he said and took off.

The blond bunny looked after him before looking down at his partner. "Tsuzuki! I'm going to jump! He have to catch him!"

Tsuzuki nodded and placed himself under the bunny. He didn't even flinch as Hisoka landed on his back and as soon as the bunny was secured on his back he took off after the bird. "Why do we need to catch him for? We can get the antidote and chase him as humans!" Tsuzuki said during the chase.

The blond shook his head. "No. I want to catch him so I can seriously hurt him with out being labelled as an animal abuser! I'm going to tear his tail feathers out!" he growled as he held on for dear life.

The two rounded a corner and was blinded by a strong light. Tsuzuki tried to stop but his paws didn't seem to be touching the floor. "What in the!" he gasped as he started to fall down the whiteness.

Then it all became black.

Xxxx

Sorry for the delay but I have a job to keep up with as well.


	3. Boooo… who?

Wai! Another chap! Sorry about the crappy beginning and I'm truly sorry for the last chap… I'll try to get some time to change it… Because of the new stupid rule here on I can't answer your reviews… gomen.

Oh… BIG SORRY for the delay! I took a break during the summer but now I'm back! Hope you can forgive me all!

Xxxx

Xxxx

Paw Prints and Feathers

Chapter three: Boooo….. who?

Xxxx

"Tsuzuki? Hisoka? Guys?"

Watari poked his head into the kitchen and frowned. Nope. No sight of the duo. Not one living soul in the kitchen… wait… let's rephrase that… not one shingami soul in the kitchen. Looking back down the hallway he called for the secretary. "Did you see where they went?"

Tatsumi shook his head. "No. Kurosaki-kun went after Tsuzuki. I have seen them as much as you have" he said and walked up to Watari. "What worries me is the fact that Muraki is on the loose in Meifu. I wonder what happens if he flies into the castle of candles…"

Watari blinked and laughed. "I would love to see that! Count really dislikes Muraki for molesting Tsuzuki so I truly wonder what he would do if he actually got his hands on him" he said and pushed his glassed high on his nose. "Na, enough fooling around. Let's go to my lab and I'll see what I can do to track them down with my computer. Let's start with Japan then move from there" he said and turned around to leave.

Tatsumi blinked. Japan? That wasn't a part of Meifu... "You think that they have left Meifu?" he asked. "What makes you think that?"

Watari looked over his shoulder and shrugged. "With Muraki you never know. I don't think they are here in Meifu because we would be able to hear them. Tsuzuki is quite noisy when he's a puppy, you know, barking and such… The halls of Meifu are practically empty so we should be able to hear some noise if they were here" he said as he continued down the hall.

"Coming, Tatsumi?"

Tatsumi looked out through the window and sighed. 'You better not have hurt anyone of them, Muraki. I will rip you apart if you have'

Xxxx

Amethyst eyes groggily opened as the pup regained consciousness. Standing up on his shaky legs he shook his head to clear it, thus ending up on his butt again. "Ow… what happened?" he asked and blinked to clear his vision.

Hisoka muttered as he sat up on his hind legs to get a better look around him. It appeared that they were in an old abandoned building. You know, those old buildings in the horror movies. He wrinkled his nose at the smell that the house reeked of. "I don't know, but I bet he does" he said and nodded his head at budgie a few meters from them. He used his front paws to wipe at his pink nose in hope to fend of the sneeze that was threatening to make itself known.

The white bird tilted his head. His feathers were slightly rumpled but while the two had talked he had been busy correcting them. "I'm sorry for the force of the teleport, Tsuzuki-san. I though a great shingami like you could handle it" he said and moved closer to the two. "That shows how delicate you really are under that tough attitude"

The bunny sat down on all four and stomped his hind leg. "Tell us where we are NOW before I get angry! I don't want to sit here and listen to you talking to Tsuzuki like that one minute longer!" he growled. He really disliked the situation. He just wanted to go back to Meifu, get his human body back and kill that son of a gun….

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….."

Tsuzuki tensed. "W-what was t-t-that?" he asked and looked around.

Muraki flew over and landed on the pup's head. "What was what, Tsuzuki-san?" he asked. He hadn't heard a thing.

"That sound! What was it!" the pup whined and backed into a corner. He had never been a fan of horror moves and such…. And being trapped in one really terrified the pup. "I'm too old for this!"

"I don't know if your age counts in a puppy's body. Even so you can't be all that scared now can you, Tsuzuki-san?"

Hisoka lifted one of his large ears. "I can't hear a thing. You are hallucinating…"

"Uhhhhhh…"

"THAT!" Tsuzuki shrieked and dashed off, not wanting to stay one minute longer. He just wanted to go home and hide under his bed! There was a limit on how much fright a shingami like him could stand and he had been pushed way beyond that limit!

Muraki wasn't prepared for the pup to take off so suddenly and toppled off his head and landed on the dusty floor. He flipped himself back onto his feet and shook himself. "That was rude of you, Tsuzuki-san. You really should warn a person before you do things like that" he said and automatically started to clean his dusty feathers.

"Uhhhhhhhh……. Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…."

Muraki stopped in mid movement when he heard the strange sound. He looked up and around. "Hmm… that's odd. This place is supposed to be deserted…" he mumbled.

Hisoka was about to speak but all that happened was that his small jaw fell down and stayed down. His emerald eyes were glued to a spot above Muraki. Getting up on his paws he started to back away from the budgie. "I-I t-thing I-I g-go and-d-d-d see wha-at happened to T-Tsuzuki…" he whispered before turning around and dashing off after the pup. He usually wasn't this afraid of stuff but being a bunny changed a lot about him…

Muraki was for once stomped. What was it that could scare the two shingamis like that?

"UHHHHHHHHH"

Muraki sighed and looked behind him. His small eyes met nothingness. Looking up, however, he could se a ghost like man stand there, only the upper part of him visible. The ghost seemed to be missing his right arm and in his left he seemed to be holding a large, bloody hunting knife. The face of the ghost looked like it had been through a document shredder….. all in all: the sight was not pretty.

"Uhhhh… UHHHHHHHHHH" came the groan from the ghost as it lifted the knife high into the air.

The budgie tilted his head. "Was it you who scared the two I was in company with?" he asked.

"Uhhhhhh….."

"I take that as a yes. That was very rude of you. Where are your manners?" Muraki asked and shook his head slightly. "You should think of the way you greet visitors. You aren't from Japan are you? Your looks say that you are from… what… Europe?"

"Uhhh?"

"Now I have to take my leave to search after them so I'll be seeing you later. I can't say that it was a pleasure meeting you for then I would be lying" the budgie said and took off. He tried to search for the shingamis' energies but he just couldn't sense anything. 'Must be this body of mine. Hmm… I didn't predict this. Might become a problem' he thought as he left the building.

Leaving behind a very confused ghost in his haunted building, scratching his head with his knife... "Uh? Uhhh….." scratch scratch…. "Uh?"

Xxxx

Hisoka came to a stop a few blocks down from the building. He was tired and his little heart beat so fast he would have suffered a heart attack if he had been a human. He huddled close to a building to catch his breath. "What in the world was THAT! I have never seen such a thing before and I'm a living dead!" he wondered. "And how will I find that baka? He could be miles away at this moment…." He sighed and closed his eyes. "Or at the closest pastry shop, depending if he finds one along the way"

He gasped as he suddenly was yanked up into the air by a fist in his hide. He kicked out and clawed about, trying to get loose.

"What is that, Yure?" a small voice asked.

"Can't you see that boy? This is the new recruit in my business" the man known as 'Yure' said.

"Looks scrawny"

"Nothing a little food can fix" Yure said and hurled the panicking bunny under one arm. "Let's head home. Mom is probably waiting for us"

Hisoka stopped kicking and looked up at the brown haired man holding him before muttering. "How come that it is always me getting kidnapped?" he wondered.

Xxxx

Muraki shook his head as he watched the two humans enter a truck with the blond bunny. "I found one, now I just have to find the pup. If I'm lucky they might get rid of the boy for me… I was hoping that I could have that pleasure myself" he said to himself and, if he could, smiled.

"MEWOW!"

Muraki calmly took off before the black cat that had been following him the last couple of minutes could land on him. He ignored the smacking sound the cat made as it hit the spot he had been occupying.

"Now all I have to do is find Tsuzuki-san"

xxxx

Sorry for the lame chap, but alas, I'm slowly restarting myself.


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